


Warmer

by Elisexyz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Baelfire | Neal Cassidy Lives, Everybody Lives, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-01 01:58:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18326378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: Emma asks for Gold's blessing to marry Neal (and she hates every second of it).





	Warmer

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt on my Tumblr](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/183991857299/). It took me a while to get to it, but it was fun LOL.

Emma hesitates only a moment before pushing the door open, because Gold already saw her, so there’s no way that she can turn on her heels without looking like a madwoman – and the last thing she needs now is him thinking that she’s out of her mind, thank you very much.

She’s irrationally nervous about this, and it’s pretty damn irritating if you ask her. She’s a grown woman, there’s no need to throw up all over Gold’s nice shop.

“Emma,” he greets her, his tone pleasant. She’s ‘Emma’ these days, most of the time. Because they all get along much better now, they are almost like an actual, functional family. There’s no need to worry. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

He’s looking at her with mild curiosity, his hands folded in front of him on the table, and Emma forces herself not to drop her eyes, because that would be a dead giveaway.

Thing is, she’s pretty sure the man can smell fear anyway.

“I have something to ask you,” she gets out, quickly.

Gold gestures for her to continue, and Emma takes a discreet breath, swallowing.

“So,” she begins, trying to make it sound nonchalant. “Me and Neal— we’ve been back together for a while.”

 _Gentle, gentle, just take it easy and get there slowly, try not to stink too much like fear, Swan, come on, you chase criminals for a living_ —

“You have,” he agrees, neutrally. He’s studying her like a really interesting lab project, which isn’t helping with her nerves.

Why exactly did Neal’s dad have to be _the Dark One_? Couldn’t he be just some normal, pleasant old man who likes beer, always reminisces about the old days, isn’t so stupidly intimating and _can’t_ turn her into a damn toad?

“And you’re okay with it,” she states, with the slightest hesitation in her tone. Maybe she was supposed to make it into a question, although it’s common knowledge that he’s fine with it: if that weren’t the case it certainly would have come out at this point.

“You seem to make him happy,” Gold points out, still not betraying any kind of emotion on his face – probably because he’s deliberately being an asshole, Emma decides.

She supposes that’s as good as she’s going to get anyway.

“So—” _Now or never_. “If I were to bring up— to bring up marriage with him— would you— I mean, you know, would I have your blessing?” _I’m gonna throw up_.

Gold blinks at her. She isn’t sure if time is dragging out just to spite her of if he’s messing with it on purpose, to get the most out of her suffering.

“This is a curious mixture of traditional and unconventional, I must say,” he finally comments.

At the non-answer, Emma’s stomach sinks to her knees, and she just starts talking in a futile attempt at saving face. “Uh, yeah, I know, it’s just that there’s some weird history between you and my family and everything, and you and Neal have been doing much better and I don’t want to ruin everything if you don’t like this, and it’s not like we’ve brought it up or anything, so I guess he’d be fine either way, I thought I’d ask before—”

“Emma,” he interrupts her, holding up his hand for emphasis and— grinning. He’s amused. He’s _laughing_ at her.

Bastard.

“It wasn’t a no, dearie,” he comments, still grinning. “Of course you have my blessing.”

The knot in Emma’s stomach suddenly eases, and she finds that the words are getting stuck in her throat.

He’s okay with it.

She supposes it’s a little ridiculous to be this hung up on it, but— she’s never had a big family before coming to Storybrooke, and even _then_ it took a while for things to settle into some kind of messed up, magical normal.

Neal really cares about his dad, and one thing is knowing that he accepts that they are together and rolls with it, _another_ is directly asking for his blessing to get married. The fear that he’d say no and declare her unworthy of being officially part of his family was a little too overwhelming.

(She has a new-found appreciation for any and all husbands who have had to do this, now.)

“Thank you,” she finally breathes out, smiling a little as her heart keeps racing, not realizing that there’s no more danger.

“Honestly, I was expecting him to ask you any day now,” Gold comments, casually.

Emma snorts, without any contempt. “I doubt it.”

Neal has been the one to offer a first date with no strings attached, but _beyond_ that— she’s the one who kissed him, the one who asked him to stay the night for the first time, the one who slowly moved into his apartment without either of them actually discussing it— she’s pretty sure that if she waited for him to pop the question, they’d have grandchildren before a wedding.

“You don’t happen to have any rings lying around here, do you?” she asks then, feeling much more like a functional adult than she did a minute ago.

Gold’s face pretty much lightens up at that. “I’m sure we’ll find something,” he announces, gesturing for her to follow him in the back of the shop.

She can take ‘shopping for an engagement ring with Rumpelstiltskin’ off her bucket list.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


End file.
